Working Together

(This children’s talk was prepared for a Sunday worship that featured a baptism.)

Theme: Baptism – Jesus in us.

Objective:
To show some objects with their inner components.
To show that all the inner components need to work together.
To teach that Jesus is like a ‘component’ working together in us.
To teach that Jesus works in us so that we can give love to others.

Key Phrase: Working together in us.

Materials:
A garden tap.
A transistor radio.
A low energy fluorescent lamp.
A box to carry the above items.

(Other items can be used according to what is available to you. All items need to be prepared before hand. They need to be items that can be easily pulled apart to show the inner working components. Use objects that the children would be familiar with. The children showed surprise and fascination to the workings of familiar objects.)

Drama Points:
1.. To help settle the children, begin as quickly as possible. Once they see what you are holding up, they will be quiet in no time at all.

2.. “I have brought a number of objects to show you this morning, especially to show you what is inside of them.”
Pull out the first object. I turned on the transistor radio so that they could hear it working.
“Have you seen inside a radio to see what makes it work?”
The back cover came off easily so they could see all the various electronic components.
“Every little component works together to make it a radio so that there is music to listen. If any one of these components fails or breaks, then the radio is useless, and it can go straight into the bin. All the tiny components work together to make the radio.”

3.. Show the second object from the box.
“Here is an ordinary garden tap. Have you seen inside a tap to see what makes it work?”
I had already loosened the spindle beforehand so it was easy to unscrew. In my hand, I had the spindle, tap washer, and the housing to show the children.
“There are only three parts, but all work together to make a tap. Without the tap washer, the water would just keep on flowing. They need to work together for it to be a tap.”

4.. Show the third object from the box.
I’m carefully holding together the low energy fluorescent lamp since I had pulled it apart the day earlier in preparation.
“I’m sure all of you have some of these lamps in your house. What’s inside it to make it work? Let’s have a look.”
The children can see a separate glass tubing, a disc of electronic components, and the end cap.
“All of these things need to work together for there to be light. If any one of these tiny parts break then the lamp is useless and it can go straight into the bin. All the parts need to work together for there to be light.”

5.. “There is one more thing to show you. What about us? What is inside of us that makes us work?
Take time to receive some answers from the children. They will say things like: heart, blood, bones, brains, etc.
“All these things work together to make us alive.”

6.. “There is one more thing we haven’t mentioned as yet. It is very important. Who would like to have a guess?
More than likely, someone will give the answer and say, “God”, or “Jesus”.
“That’s right, Jesus comes into us when we are baptised. Jesus works together in us. Jesus works together in us to make us loving people. He works together in us so that we can listen to our parents, to care for our friends, to look after our pets. Jesus works together in us so that we can give love to other people. Jesus is an important part of us.”

7.. Finish with prayer, “Dear Jesus, thank you for baptism and coming into our life. Please, continue to work in us so that we can give love to other people. Amen.”